Swami & The Bed Of Nails – Remarkably Comfortable – Night & Day Cafe Manchester
Ex-Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes & Drive Like Jehu singer returns with Bed Of Nails
It’s 40 years ago since the 15 yr old John Reiss picked up a guitar and joined his first punk band, Conservative Itch. Two years later he started post-hardcore band Pitchfork, with his friend Rick Froberg, which lasted 4 years until 1990. Reiss, never a man to do things by half, then started two new bands in 1990. The first Drive Like Jehu, which included Froberg, was a more experimental outfit, embracing post-hardcore, post punk math rock and early emo (before it got highjacked by the black eyeliner brigade). The second was a stripped back rock band, Rocket From The Crypt, which eventually morphed into a punk rock-abilly outfit complete with horns. He went by the name of Speedo during his RFTC days, a period which is most often cited as the peak of his career. In 1999, he formed the Hot Snakes and then in 2000, the Sultans, since when he has been pretty much always in 3 bands, as RFTC were still going up to 2005, when he ended both them and the Hot Snakes on Halloween that year. He continued for several years just as the Sultans, before winding them up as well.
It wasn’t long before the band bug got to him again, forming The Night Marchers with a couple of ex-Hot Snakes members, who are still going strong in 2024. Little by little he resurrected all of his last 3 previous groups, Hot Snakes in 2011, RFTC in 2013 and Drive Like Jehu in 2014, meaning that between 2014-2016 he was actually involved in 4 bands. Since the 2nd demise of Drive Like Jehu, this dropped back to a trio of groups until recently. The formation of his 7th band, Swami & The Bed of Nails, now means that technically he is in at least 4 once again, as the others are still alive.
Reiss has had the Swami moniker for many years as he appears on the cult US children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba as a character of the same name. Some times it must be difficult for him to remember just who he is when considering his past incarnations.
No such worries tonight as the debut UK tour hits Manchester’s iconic venue, Night & Day Cafe. The five-piece, resplendent in matching monochrome patterned shirts and white trousers, no doubt a hangover from the RTFC days of group synchronicity, shuffle onto the tiny stage and deliver 16 slices of dirty rock n roll. which includes one cover each from Hot Snakes and The Night Marchers.
All but one of the All Of This Awaits You LP gets an airing (except Beware The Halo), plus their 3 singles Privacy, Shock & Awe and How Are You Peeling.
Reiss is quite chatty in between songs, but refrains from blowing smoke up the arses of the 100 or so punters who have assembled, referring to the UK as Monkey Island for some reason. There’s bit of to and fro with the audience, explaining what Harbour Freight is to us Brits (think B&M Bargains), to put the song into context, and another quip about how glad he is to be playing in such small venues again! It’s uncertain just how far his tongue is wedged in his cheek, but it seems good natured and to be honest the crowd don’t seem to care, as the songs keep coming. This coming from a man who once hung up on me during a phone interview in 1998, when I asked him a question about their new LP!
Despite it being a band, it’s pretty much the John Reiss show, with little in the way of crowd interaction from the others. Those who came expecting RFTC songs will have left sorely disappointed, but the rest of us enjoyed a hot sweaty display of Swami at his best, both vocally and musically, with big swathes of guitar.
They start with a couple of unreleased tracks in Ride The Wild Night and Do You Still Wanna Make Out before bursting to the foot stomping Ketchup, Mustard and Relish, like a rougher NOFX with keyboards. You could easily see it sitting on a RFTC LP. Teen Hate is preceded with a little rant about young people and his own offspring in particular. Again, not sure how much is tongue in cheek, but the rest of us of a certain age relate to it, whilst conveniently forgetting that we were all young once, with Reiss raising the question with “don’t tell me that I was ever like that, we all know that just can not be true”! The outro refrain borrowed shamelessly from the Beatles Love Me Do.
We get more Reiss chat on the subject of vaping, before Vape Alone In The Dark. He’s not a man to hold back! The driving Privacy ends the Swami material before a couple of covers from his previous incarnations (Sultans/The Night Marchers).
It’s been a night to remember at the sweat is running down John’s face. Nothing has been held back. The band are tight and Riess’s vocals still retain that throaty edge that made RFTC etc so distinctive.
By the time he returns to these shores again, he may well be with another new band, another identity, but for now this was a perfect reminder that music is best experienced live and with in touching distance. No dynamic pricing or O2 priority access here, just got old Punk Rock N Roll.
| Set List Ride The Wild Night/ Do U Still Wanna Make Out?/ Ketchup, Mustard, Relish/ Harbour Freight/ Rip From The Bone/ When I Kicked Him In The Face/ Lost In Bermondsey/ How Are You Peeling?/ Shock & Awe/ Teen Hate/ Don’t Wait / Ain’t Your Pawn/ Vape In The Dark Alone/ Privacy/ Just A Fool (Sultans Cover)/ All Hits (The Nightmarchers cover) |
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